Experiment will be sent along with the next Orbital/ATK Cygnus cargo mission.
Dileep Thekkethil
According to news coming in from the NASA’s John H Glenn Research Centre, the US space agency is going to set fire in space as part of a new experiment to understand how fire spreads in a micro-gravity.
A new YouTube video uploaded by NASA’s Glenn centre says the mission to fire up the space is named Spacecraft Fire Experiment (Saffire) and the experiment will be sent into the space along with the next Orbital/ATK Cygnus cargo mission, the core mission of which is to fill the supplies in the International Space Station.
Soon after the unmanned cargo supplies the ISS with key scientific supplies, the vehicle will be dispatched form the ISS for the completion of its secondary mission, which is to light a “large-scale fire.”
“Saffire I, II and III will launch separately in 2016 aboard resupply missions to the ISS. But they will not be unloaded and after the Orbital/ATK Cygnus pulls far away from the space station, the experiments will begin,” NASA Glenn said in a YouTube video.
The experiment with fire will take place in a box full of “cotton-fiberglass composite”. The findings of the experiment will be sent back to the earth before Cygnus make its re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere.
During the experiment scientist will be testing the measure of the flame growth, oxygen used during combustion etc.
TechInsider reported that the scientists are aware that flames in zero gravity can be unpredictable but as of now they have no clue about the properties and mechanics of fire in space.
The mission to the ISS carrying cargo and the experiment will lift off on March 22nd on board Cygnus spacecraft built by NASA’s commercial partner Orbital ATK. The mission will be put on orbit by United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This is the fifth time that NASA is sending a contracted resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The mission codenamed Orbital ATK CRS-6 will give insights to space scientists who study about fire, meteors regolith, adhesion, and 3D printing in microgravity
The result of the space fire experiment could result in scientists determining the microgravity flammability limits of several spacecraft materials and could help in the selection of materials during future missions.
Scientists can also understand how microgravity and oxygen limit affects the flame.
Here are the other experiments that also will be part of the March 22 launch to the ISS, according to a NASA release:
Saffire-I
A gem of an investigation will be heating up on CRS-6. The Spacecraft Fire Experiment-I (Saffire-I) intentionally lights a large-scale fire inside an empty Cygnus resupply vehicle after it leaves the space station and before it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere.
In the decades of research into combustion and fire processes in reduced gravity, few experiments have directly studied spacecraft fire safety under low-gravity conditions, and none of these experiments have studied sample and environment size typical of those expected in a spacecraft fire.
The Saffire-I investigation provides a new way to study a realistic fire on an exploration vehicle, which has not been possible in the past because the risks for performing such studies on manned spacecraft are too high. Instruments on the returning Cygnus will measure flame growth, oxygen use and more. Results could determine microgravity flammability limits for several spacecraft materials, help to validate NASA’s material selection criteria, and help scientists understand how microgravity and limited oxygen affect flame size. The investigation is crucial for the safety of current and future space missions.
Meteor
A less heated investigation, Meteor Composition Determination (Meteor), will enable the first space-based observations of meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere from space. Meteors are somewhat rare and are difficult to monitor from the ground because of Earth’s atmosphere. Meteor uses high-resolution video and image analysis of the atmosphere to ascertain the physical and chemical properties of the meteoroid dust, such as size, density and chemical composition. Since scientists usually identify the parent comets or asteroids for most meteor showers, the study of the meteoroid dust from the space station provides information about those parent comets and asteroids. Investigating the elemental composition of meteors adds to our understanding of how the planets developed, and continuous measurement of meteor interactions with Earth’s atmosphere could spot previously unforeseen meteors.
Strata-I
A more ‘grounded’ investigation will study the properties and behavior of regolith, the impact-shattered “soil” found on asteroids, comets, the Moon and other airless worlds. The Strata-1investigation could give us answers about how regolith behaves and moves in microgravity, how easy or difficult it is to anchor a spacecraft in regolith, how it interacts with spacecraft and spacesuit materials, and other important properties. This will help NASA learn how to safely move and process large volumes of regolith, and predict and prevent risk to spacecraft and astronauts visiting these small bodies.
Regolith is different from soil here on Earth in that it contains no living material. We do not adequately understand the behavior of regolith on small, airless bodies. Previous NASA missions suggest that regolith may flow like sediments in a streambed as asteroids and comets deform; however new, fundamental research is needed on regolith physics in prolonged microgravity.
The Strata-1 experimental facility exposes a series of regolith simulants, including pulverized meteorite material, glass beads, and regolith simulants composed of terrestrial materials and stored in multiple transparent tubes, to prolonged microgravity on the space station. Scientists will monitor changes in regolith layers and layering, size sorting, and particle migration via video images and close examination after return of regolith samples to Earth. Strata-1 can be used in a range of future experiments to study the behavior of materials like those seen on specific types of asteroids and the Mars moon, Phobos, which have been identified as exploration targets for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM).
Gecko Gripper
From grounded to gripping, another investigation launching takes its inspiration from small lizards. Geckos have specialized hairs on their feet called setae that let them stick to vertical surfaces without falling, and their stickiness doesn’t wear off with repeated use. The Gecko Gripper investigation tests a gecko-adhesive gripping device that can stick on command in the harsh environment of space.
The gripping device is a material with synthetic hairs much like setae that are much thinner than a human hair. When a force is applied to make the tiny hairs bend, the positively charged part of a molecule within a slight electrical field attracts the negatively charged part of its neighbor resulting in “stickiness.” Once adhered, the gripper can bear loads up to 20 pounds. The gripper can remain in place indefinitely and can also be easily removed and reused.
Gecko Grippers have many applications on current and future space missions, including acting as mounting devices for payloads, instruction manuals and many other small items within the space station. In addition, gecko adhesive technology enables a new type of robotic inspection system that could prove vital for spacecraft safety and repair. Grippers could also inspect and service satellites and be used for large grappling equipment to catch and retrieve large pieces of space debris, reducing the risk of collisions. The technology in this investigation also holds promise for industries where gecko-like grippers could be used in factories to handle fragile or lightweight objects like glass, and bags or boxes of food.
Additive Manufacturing Facility
From adhesion to additive, the new Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) will also launch on the flight. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) is the process of building a part layer-by-layer, with an efficient use of the material. The AMF uses this technology to enable the production of components on the space station for both NASA and commercial objectives. Parts, entire experiments, and tools can be created on demand. The facility is capable of producing parts out of a wide variety of space-rated composites, including engineered plastics. The ability to manufacture on the orbiting laboratory enables on-demand repair and production capability, as well as essential research for manufacturing on long-term missions.
These sticky, stony and sizzling investigations are just a sampling of the wide range of science conducted on the orbiting laboratory that benefits future spaceflight and provides Earth-based benefits as well.
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